Pacific
Island Battlegrounds highlights decisive
World War II military operations in the islands of Polynesia, Melanesia,
and Micronesia and describes the changes that have occurred in these
islands during the 50 years since the end of the war. Over 100 b/w and
color photos, maps and an index.

The author is
a contributor to Pacific Magazine and a Marine Corps veteran
of WW II. He was at Ewa Marine Air Base during the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor. After the war, he traveled to many of the famous Pacific
battlefields with his wife on his sailboat Horizon. The book
is full of wartime photos, history, maps and current pictures.

The book succeeds
in giving readers an excellent look into the histories of the more famous
operations of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. Included are chapters
on Pearl Harbor, Wake, Midway, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Marshall Islands,
Rabaul, New Guinea, New Hebrides, Truk, Saipan, Guam and Peleliu.

Each chapter
provides a clear and concise historical summaries of the war history
for each location. These histories are written as overviews, and do
not contain all the many details that one would find in historical anthologies.
Rather, it is the author's intention to provide highlights that might
stimulate further reading on the subject

Every section
ends with a write up about the fifty years that have passes since the
war. These "now" sections bring readers up to speed about political
changes in each region, and identify issues and events that have defined
the modern history of the location.

The author has
chosen many unique wartime photographs to illustrate each history. They
include some more rare Pacific war imagery, like coastal defenses on
Oahu beach. The
book's maps are of exceptional quality. They were created by Angela
Wu-Ki and are much better than most history books because of their clarity.

Of course, the
most interesting section to me is the fourteen pages of color photographs
of each location today. Each section of the book has four color photos
of locations in that country today. For the Papua New Guinea section,
there are photos of Hanuabada village (near Moresby), the Air Niugini
DC-3 on display at Moresby, Coastwatchers Memorial in Madang, and Parliament
house in Moresby.

I would have
like to see more present day photos, and of course more wreck photos!
Regardless, the book is a good addition to anyone's library who is interested
in the war in the Pacific and war wrecks. And worth it for a wide survey
of Pacific wrecks, and their history.